Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer

Under current law, the money in the educator licensure cash fund (cash fund) is continuously appropriated through fiscal year 2023-24. The act extends the continuous appropriation authority to fiscal year 2029-30. On or before November 1, 2029, the department of education shall report to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate and the joint budget committee concerning the revenue credited to, and expenditures from, the cash fund and shall make a recommendation whether the continuous appropriation authority should be maintained. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act delays a $20 million transfer from the marijuana tax cash fund to the public school capital construction assistance fund from June 1, 2024, to June 1, 2026. The act reduces the appropriation to the department of education from the public school capital construction assistance fund for the 2024-25 state fiscal year by $20 million. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act combines the food pantry assistance program and the food bank assistance program into a single program named the community food assistance provider grant program (grant program) in the department of human services (state department). The purpose of the grant program is to provide grants to procure and distribute nutritious foods that meet the needs of eligible entities' clientele. The state department may contract with a third-party vendor to solicit, vet, award, and monitor grants. The state department shall include information regarding the grant program at its "SMART Act" hearing. The act allows a recipient of the supplemental nutrition assistance program (recipient) to receive fuel assistance payments through the same payment mechanism that the recipient uses to receive other cash assistance benefits. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $3,000,000 from the general fund to the state department for the use by the office of economic security for the grant program. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $4 million from the general fund to the Colorado crime victim services fund on July 1, 2024. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The advanced industries acceleration cash fund (AI cash fund) consists, in part, of money transferred annually to the fund from the general fund pursuant to the "Colorado Bioscience and Clean Technology Innovation Reinvestment Act" (bioscience act). The amount of money transferred pursuant to the bioscience act is based on the amount of income tax withholding for certain bioscience and clean technology occupation classifications. The act extends both the transfers to the AI cash fund and the bioscience act, which had respectively been scheduled to repeal on July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026, for an additional 8 years so that the last transfer is scheduled for March 1, 2033, and the bioscience act is scheduled to repeal, effective July 1, 2034. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the department of health care policy and financing (department) distributed money appropriated for a supplemental state payment to the Denver health and hospital authority (Denver health). The act authorizes the department to continually distribute any money appropriated by the general assembly for payment to Denver health. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $5 million to the department for payments to Denver health. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies the established set of definitions to be used when analyzing available evidence regarding a program or practice in relation to a budget request, request for a supplemental appropriation, or budget request amendment (collectively, budget request). The act also modifies accordingly the process for incorporating evidence-based decision-making into budgetary decisions. If a state agency or the office of state planning and budgeting (office) includes information regarding the best available evidence on the effectiveness of a program or practice in a budget request, the state agency or office is required to give the program or practice an evidence designation and to provide a summary of the best available research evidence about the program or practice, information concerning how the best available research evidence is connected to the budget request, and any plans to evaluate the program or practice to build evidence regarding its effectiveness (collectively, the evidence designation justification). The state agency or the office may also include with its budget request that an evidence designation is not applicable or that the budget request is ineligible for an evidence designation. Joint budget committee staff is required to review the evidence designation justification and to include an evidence designation, or to state that an evidence designation is not applicable or that the budget request is ineligible for an evidence designation, as part of any recommendation it makes regarding a budget request. The joint budget committee is required to consider, as one of many factors, the evidence designation when determining the appropriate level of funding for a program or practice. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $1,496,000 from the college opportunity fund to the general fund on June 30, 2024. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act increases the amounts of certain fees, with subsequent adjustments for inflation or deflation, for filing forms and annual reports relating to exemptions of real and personal property from taxation as follows: The fee for claiming an initial exemption of real and personal property is increased from $175 to $200; The fee for filing an annual report containing information relating to property that has been granted exemption from taxation in previous years is increased from $75 to $110; The fee for filing a late annual report containing information relating to property that has been granted exemption from taxation in previous years that is filed later than April 15, but prior to July 1, is increased from $250 to $300; and The fee for filing a delinquent annual report containing information relating to property that has been granted exemption from taxation in previous years that is filed within a 12-month period commencing on July 1 of the year in which the annual report was due is increased from $250 to $300. The act requires the property tax administrator to adjust the filing fees for inflation or deflation annually and to round the adjusted amount upward or downward to the nearest $5. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The broadband infrastructure cash fund (fund) is created in the state treasury, and the state treasurer is required to transfer $4,570,741 from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2024. For the 2024-25 through 2026-27 state fiscal years, the money in the fund is subject to annual appropriation to the department of corrections (department) for the installation of broadband infrastructure to allow broadband access within specified correctional facilities. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $4,570,741 from the fund to the department to be used for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor April 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 18, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)